If exercise 1 is now relatively pain free and not overly stiff, then add this second exercise to your routine. The goal of the exercise is to mobilise the middle part of your neck, to improve your rotation in one direction. If you can rotate your head in both directions without stiffness or pain, then move on to exercise 3.

To perform the exercise follow these instructions:

Tuck your chin as per exercise 1, then rotate your neck as far as possible in the direction of stiffness. Making sure you do not lose the chin tuck.

At the end of your rotation range, use your hand on your cheek to add a comfortable overpressure. This exercise can create a feeling of tightness at any level of your neck.

Repeat this ten times, as often as possible (aim for more than 5x a day). You can perform the exercise in one or both directions.

 

Non Specifc Lower Back Pain encapsulates about 85-90% of all back Pain. If you have no numbness or weakness in your legs then there is a strong chance you fit into this category. More recently research has shown that rest is not the best medicine for back pain. Instead, frequent and pain free movement is actually far more effective. This video shows you my basic exercise instructions for this kind of back pain. Choose one forward bending exercise and one back bending exercise that you can do with a large movement and no pain. Through the set of 10 repetitions your movement should either free up, or stay the same, but not get worse. If it does, the exercise is too aggressive for you. If your pain continues please contact your local physiotherapist for an assessment.

 

This is the first of three gluteus medius exercises we normally use at Gymea Physio Focus. The video explains what we want to get out of the exercise, some good progressions, cues and common mistakes. See Part 3 for The Crab Walk and Part 4 for theraband abductions/ side kicks

Here is a quick demonstration showing you how to foam roll your back and lower limbs. Roll each muscle group 10 times slowly, holding the worst spot (at roughly a 5 out of 10 pain) for 10 seconds.

This video shows you an easy way to strap your heel for Severs pain. It can also be useful for someone with an Achilles tendinopathy.